Members of the European Parliament closed several critical parts of the AI regulation at a political meeting on Thursday (13 April), but the prohibited uses of AI could potentially divide the house. The AI Act is a landmark legislation to regulate Artificial Intelligence based on its capacity to cause harm, and while MEPs are approaching a political deal on the file with a key committee vote scheduled for 26 April, the plenary adoption will be challenging. The most politically sensitive part discussed during the political meeting with all the groups on Thursday was prohibited practices, applications deemed to pose an unacceptable risk. High-risk categorisation, enforcement and governance are largely settled. EU lawmakers in the leading European Parliament committees are voting on the political agreement on the AI Act on 26 April, with many questions being settled but a few critical issues still open. The German liberals proposed introducing a provision banning "the use of an AI system for the general monitoring, detection and interpretation of private content in interpersonal communication services, including all measures that would undermine end-to-end encryption."

France is proposing several changes to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act to ensure better alignment with the new legislative framework, the EU's legislation that regulates market surveillance and conformity assessment procedures. The changes also relate to the designation of competent authorities and the high-risk AI database. The French Presidency, which leads the work in the EU Council, shared a new compromise text on Monday (25 April) that will be discussed with the representatives of the other member states at the telecom working party on Thursday. Notified bodies will play a crucial role in the enforcement of the AI Act, as they will be designated by EU countries to assess the conformity of the AI systems to EU rules before they are launched on the market. The new text refers explicitly to the EU regulation setting up the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance, and a reference that such bodies will have to respect confidentiality obligations has been added.

Although it claims to protect our liberties, the EU's draft text on artificial intelligence (AI), presented by Margrethe Vestager, actually promotes the accelerated development of all aspects of AI, in particular for security purposes. Loaded with exceptions, resting on a stale risk-based approach, and picking up the French government's rhetoric on the need for more experimentation, this text should be modified down to its foundation. In its current state it risks endangering the slim legal protections that European law holds out in face of the massive deployment of surveillance techniques in public space. On April 21, 2021 the European Commission (EC) published a regulation proposal for a "European approach" to AI, accompanied by a coordinating plan to guide member states' action for the years to come. Beyond the rethoric of the European Commission, the draft regulation is deeply insufficient in how it treats the danger that AI systems represent for fundamental freedoms.